Every year, Hotel El Ganzo welcomes emerging and established chefs to promote diversity within the kitchen and expose guests to new culinary experiences. This year, Hotel El Ganzo is going back to its Mexican roots with its first Chef Intervention of 2017. On September 16, celebrated mother-son culinary team Celia Florian & Alam Mendez will take over the hotel’s kitchen in a true celebration of traditional Oaxacan food. Dinner profits will benefit the El Ganzo Community Center, which promotes sustainable agriculture via recycling programs, educational workshops and learning gardens for local children.
Celia Florian is the grand dame of Oaxacan food. She owns and operates the award-winning Las Quince Letras, a culinary staple that has been in operation for 23 years known for its mole trilogy: mole negro, mole almendrado and mole rojo. Florian has stayed true to her roots by replicating dishes learned from her mother and grandmother and working closely with local farmers. In 2012, she was awarded the National Award for Regional Cuisine. Today, she’s an advocate for Oaxacan food leading the Slow Food Oaxaca movement and serving as a delegate of the Conservatory of Mexican Gastronomic Culture. Celia’s son, Alam Mendez will also be bringing his talents to El Ganzo. Mendez, the executive chef at Pasillo de Humo in Mexico City, followed his mother’s footsteps at an early age developing a passion for Oaxacan food. Pasillo de Humo, located in the heart of Condesa, specializes in dried beef grilled over fueled coals. Mendez, a regional semifinalist for S. Pellegrino’s Young Chef 2018 competition, has traveled extensively to hone his culinary expertise. His studies have taken him to Puebla, Guatemala, Chile, Germany, Denmark and Spain where he worked at the Michelin-starred, Can Fabes.
Hotel El Ganzo’s Chef Interventions create a unique food concept and curated epicurean experience for locals and international travelers. Celia and Adam will be taking over dinner service at El Ganzo’s Downstairs restaurant on September 16 at 7:00 p.m. The menu will include regional specialties like garnachas, milpa soup (traditional Mexican vegetable parcels), grilled octopus with mole de chicatanas (giant ants) and xoconostle (fruit from the Nopal cactus).
This activation is one of a series of cultural elements embraced by El Ganzo, which has become a creative epicenter in Los Cabos. El Ganzo’s ongoing artist-in-residence program, where the hotel acts like a white canvas for artists to leave their mark, has included some of Mexico’s top talent including Pedro Reyes, Saner and Street Art Chilango as well as talent from abroad. Musicians visit too, taking advantage of the professional, underground studio beneath the lobby where they record the El Ganzo Sessions played in every room, and reward guests with an intimate rooftop concert at the end of their residency.
Chef Intervention pricing begins at $95 per person including tax and service charge.
For more information, visit: elganzo.com